Darlington & Stockton Times

The Darlington & Stockton Times is a British, regional, weekly, paid for, newspaper covering the Richmond - Darlington - Stokesley - Thirsk - Leyburn area.[4] It is published in Darlington by Newsquest Media Group Ltd, a subsidiary of Gannett Company Inc.[2] Three separate editions are published for County Durham, North Yorkshire and Cleveland.[5]

Darlington & Stockton Times
Darlington & Stockton Times front page
TypeRegional weekly
FormatCompact[1]
Owner(s)Gannett Company[2]
Founder(s)George Brown[1]
EditorHannah Chapman[2]
Founded1847 (1847) in Barnard Castle[1]
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersPriestgate, Darlington[2]
CityDarlington
CountryUK
Circulation9,259 (as of 2022)[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

A substantial proportion of Darlington & Stockton Times readers live in rural areas, and it contains information and news relating to farming issues.[4]

It was one of the last UK newspapers to devote its front page entirely to adverts; a practice that persisted until 1997. Compact format replaced broadsheet in 2009.[1]

History

Title

The Darlington & Stockton Times was first published with four broadsheet pages, on a single sheet, in 1847 as the:

Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal.[1]

That was soon changed to:

Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal and South Durham and North Yorkshire Advertiser[1]

before in 1894, the full title became:

Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal and South Durham and North Yorkshire Advertiser and Ripon and Richmond Chronicle.[1]

Objectives

Before publication, Brown advertised the newspaper would

..labour to promote the diffusion of liberal principles, and the progress of peaceful and enlightened measures for the removal of national Abuses, and for securing the just Rights and Privileges of all men and the safety and welfare of the Country... Our views are in favour of Peace, Temperance, a reformed criminal code, thorough Sanitary Regulations, and the Extension of unfettered Education to all.

— George Brown, 1847[6]

In the event, page one of the first edition contained only auction news, insurance and general advertisements. Meetings of the Darlington Abstinence Society and Stockton Institute of Literature and Science filled page two, but it sold out.[6]

Ownership
1847 Liberal philanthropist and barrister, George Brown established the newspaper, with printer Henry Atkinson, in Barnard Castle. He employed Henry King Spark as a compositor, and subsequently moved the newspaper to the better connected and larger market of Darlington.[1][6]
1849 George Brown moved back to Barnard Castle and sold his newspaper to property developers Robert and William Thompson.[1]
1864 The Thompsons' business failed and their newspaper was purchased by the now wealthy Henry King Spark. He used it in his bids to establish Darlington as a parliamentary borough, and be its first mayor and member of parliament. Darlington became a borough and Spark embarrassed the powerful, liberal Pease family but he was not elected to either position. In 1870, liberals, including the Pease family, established the Northern Echo to counter the Darlington & Stockton Times' influence in Darlington.[1][7][6]
1878 Spark was declared bankrupt and title passed to the rival, liberal faction led by Northern Echo publisher John Hyslop Bell, and the Pease family.[1]
c. 1885 Mirroring a split in the Liberal Party, the newspaper's directors disagreed over its position on home rule for Ireland. Those favouring home rule were bought out by the unionist Arthur Pease's faction. The Darlington & Stockton Times supported Pease's 1895 campaign to become Tory aligned Liberal Unionist MP for Darlington. Pease ousted the Northern Echo supported Liberal Theodore Fry from the seat.[1][8]
1914 Arnold Rowntree and Charles Starmer controlled, liberal aligned and Northern Echo owning, North of England Newspaper Company Ltd purchased the Darlington & Stockton Times. The newspaper retained its unionist voice.[9][8][1][10]
1921 North of England Newspapapers Company Ltd purchased by Charles Starmer and Pearson's, King and Hutchings Ltd. King and Hutchings Ltd subsequently renamed Westminster Press Ltd.[11][12][8]
1937 Pearson take complete control of Westminster Press Ltd.[13][8][14]
1969 Pearson plc floated on the London Stock Exchange.[14]
1995 Westminster Press Ltd sold by Pearson plc to Newsquest Media Group Ltd.[15]
1999 Newsquest Media Group Ltd purchased by Gannett Company Inc.[16]
2019 GateHouse Media purchased Gannett Company Inc, and subsequently took the name of its acquisition.[17]

Location
1847 Horsemarket, Barnard Castle[18][1] 54.5440°N 1.9245°W / 54.5440; -1.9245
1848 Bennett House / Central Hall, Darlington[1][6] 54.5240°N 1.5547°W / 54.5240; -1.5547
1866 Purpose built premises in Salt Yard, Darlington[1][6] 54.5263°N 1.5580°W / 54.5263; -1.5580
1931 Priestgate, Darlington[1][2] 54.5259°N 1.5529°W / 54.5259; -1.5529

Circulation

Weekly ABC circulation for second half of year:

1923 25,927[19]
2011 22,369[20]
2012 Decrease 21,117[20]
2013 Decrease 20,072[4][21]
2014 Decrease 18,743[21][22]
2015 Decrease 17,341[23]
2016 Decrease 15,538[23]
2017 Decrease 14,214[24]
2018 Decrease 13,117[25]

ISSN

The Darlington & Stockton Times regional edition ISSN codes are:[5]

  • 1470-4305, North Yorkshire
  • 1470-4307, County Durham
  • 1470-4323, Cleveland

References
  1. Lloyd, Chris (6 October 2017). "Darlington & Stockton Times 170th Anniversary: Resolute and steadfast, refusing to bow to the whims of fancy". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  2. "Contact Us". Darlington and Stockton Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. "Darlington & Stockton Times". Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK). 20 February 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  4. "Media Pack news from the Darlington and Stockton Times". Darlington and Stockton Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  5. "The ISSN Portal". ISSN. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  6. Mulpetre, Owen (2010). W T Stead and the New Journalism (PDF) (Thesis). Teesside University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via Attacking the Devil.
  7. "The History of Darlington". Darlington Borough Council. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022 – via Ingenious Darlington.
  8. Mulpetre, Owen (2012). "W.T. Stead & the Darlington Northern Echo". Attacking the Devil. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  9. "North of England Newspapers - Media Information". This is the North East. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  10. Lloyd, Chris (5 January 2020). "Charles Starmer and his age of 'gimmicks and nig nogs'". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  11. "Our History". Pearson. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  12. "LOCALIQ LIMITED overview". Companies House. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  13. "NEWSQUEST (HERTS AND BUCKS) LIMITED overview". Companies House. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  14. "History of Pearson plc". Funding Universe. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  15. Quinn, Anthony. "UK Regional Newspapers and local newspapers - Magforum". Mag Forum. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  16. Pro Forma Financial Statements, Securities and Exchange Commission, London. 1999 Archived 27 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine.Accessed: 12 September 2007.
  17. Doctor, Ken (17 February 2017). "Newsonomics: Softbank, Fortress, Trump – and the real story of Gatehouse's boundless ambition". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  18. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. "Editor and Publisher". 56 (35). New York: Editor and Publisher Company. 1924. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via Archive.org. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. "Regional ABCs: Paid-for local press circulation drops by 6.4 per cent". Press Gazette. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  21. Turvill, William (29 April 2015). "Darlington and Stockton Times editor leaves after 23 years as role is phased out". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  22. Linford, Paul (25 February 2015). "ABCs: Only three paid-for weeklies increase print sales - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage". HoldtheFrontPage. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  23. Ponsford, Dominic (23 February 2017). "ABCs: UK local weekly newspapers lose print sales by average of 11.2 per cent". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  24. Mayhew, Freddy (5 March 2018). "Regional non-daily paid-for ABCs: Trinity Mirror sees number of paid-for weeklies drop sales by 20 per cent or more". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  25. Mayhew, Freddy (28 February 2019). "Regional non-daily ABC figures for last six months of 2018 in full". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
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